Have you ever stopped to consider that there is at least one moment in your life that defeated all odds to happen, and somehow that one moment shook you to the core and changed everything about you? It is absolutely insane to think about how one single moment can define your entire life. It becomes even crazier when you realize that the possibility of that one moment happening to you at that specific time could have happened to anyone at any given time.

I want to begin this by stating that I am an adamant believer that choice is one of the most powerful weapons a person can have in his or her arsenal. Although we may not always be able to control the circumstances that happen to us, we can decide whether or not those circumstances become defining moments in our lives. We have the choice whether or not a moment is important to us. If it is, it can sculpt who we are. If it isn’t, then it has no power to shape us. The most baffling part about choice is that it doesn’t matter how immense a circumstance is, we are the ones who can choose how it moves us and whether or not it is significant enough to become a part of the defining moments that make us who we are.

Think of it this way: we are all drivers on this road we call life, and circumstances are simply forks in that road. We are the ones who choose what to do when we reach those forks. Whether we turn around; stop completely; or go left, right, straight, or any other direction, the choice is ours to make. The fork cannot move the car. Only the driver can determine where the car will travel next.

Although there may be many turns, twists, bumps, detours, and forks on the road of life, there are some turns we take that cause us to completely change the direction we’re traveling. Some may even be so big that they completely change our destination. One simple turn could change our destination from California to New York; one choice could change our destination from a dead end road to an entirely new journey.

Some of the circumstances I have faced include the death of a mother, death of a stepmother, broken homes, and unhealthy relationships to name a few. When facing these circumstances, I made the choice to hide the pain, shame, and all of those other unwanted emotions those circumstances made me feel. These choices caused me to become closed off, depressed, and isolated. They led to things like an addiction to pornography, self-harm, and the consumption of alcohol all as a futile attempt to escape. Eventually, I reached a spot that seemed to be the end. I was lost without a road map, staring at what seemed to be a dead end. I contemplated suicide and almost went through with it.

This, my friends and readers, is where my moment took place—where my life changed forever in a matter of seconds.

Although God had been pleading with me and giving me opportunity after opportunity to turn to Him and give His plan for my life a try, it wasn’t until I made the decision to give Him everything I had that my life finally changed from one of shame and hopelessness to one full of hope, joy, and peace.

That’s something that a lot of people don’t understand: we’re not waiting on God. God is waiting on us. When God sent Jesus to die for us, He put the ball in our court. He made His move and His choice. He chose us, so now it’s our turn to choose Him. Choosing Him, of course, means going on a completely different journey that is far unlike anything we’ve ever seen or known before. It means not knowing the next turn and not having a road map but instead listening to God and letting Him lead us and tell us where to go. However, He won’t reveal the destination to us simply because it’s far too great for us to understand. It also means never running on empty, never lacking anything, having overwhelming peace and unquenchable hope, and going on a journey far greater than anything we could have ever imagined with the Creator of everything, who loves us more than we could ever fathom, as our travelling companion.

The choice is yours. What will you do?